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BasicWaveformAnalysiswithanOscilloscope

BasicWaveformAnalysiswithanOscilloscope
8hoursagobyMarkHughes(/author/markhughes)

Learnaboutthecurrentgenerationofoscilloscopesandhowtousethemtomeasure
variouscircuitelements.

SupportingInformation
BasicOscilloscopeOperation(http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/worksheets/basicoscilloscopeoperation/)

Theoscilloscopeisaninvaluablediagnosticinstrumentthatcanbeusedtotroubleshootproblemcircuits,verify
productdesignbeforedeliverytoconsumers,andreverseengineerproductsfor"hacks".
WewillexplorethevarioususesofanoscilloscopeusingtheTektronixMDO3104thatwasprovidedbyTektronix.Part
1willshowtheversatilityofthecurrentgenerationofoscilloscopes.

GettingaScope
Whenpreparingarticles,wetypicallyprovidealinktopurchasethepartsrequiredfromvariousvendors.Duetothe
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Whenpreparingarticles,wetypicallyprovidealinktopurchasethepartsrequiredfromvariousvendors.Duetothe
highcostofthemachineusedinthisarticle,itseemedprudenttofindanoptionforreaderstoacquireamachinein
someothermanner.Ifyoucannotaffordtopurchaseanewoscilloscope,youcanrent,renttoown,lease,finance,or
purchaseusedmachinesfromcompaniessuchasMicrolease(https://tracking.cirrusinsight.com/61f01ca9b9354ea1
9672d348e9189ad9/microleasecomusproductstektronixoscilloscopesmdo4054c).

ANoteBeforeWeBegin
AllexamplesinthisarticlearebasedontheTektronixMDO3104oscilloscope.
WhilepreparingthisarticleIcontactedseveraltestinstrumentmakersRigolandBKPrecisionalsoofferedtomake
testinstrumentsavailableforthisarticleandIwouldliketothankallcompaniesfortheirgenerosity.Theyareallworld
classinstruments.
ThisarticleisnotintendedtobeahowtoguidetotheTektronixMDO3104.Itismeanttoshowyouthevarious
capabilitiesandfunctionsofmostmidrangeoscilloscopesthroughtheuseoftheTektronixMDO3104asanexample.

IwillshowthestepsneededtousethemachineIhaveitislefttothereadertoseethedocumentationontheir
specificscopeforspecifickeypressesandmenuoptions.Iuseboldtoindicatephysicalmanipulationofthescope
throughknobturnorbuttonpress,andquotationmarkstoindicateamenuchoice.

OscilloscopeDisplays
Oscilloscopesallowustodeterminerelationshipsbetweencertainvariablesinelectricalcircuits.Earlyoscilloscopes
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Oscilloscopesallowustodeterminerelationshipsbetweencertainvariablesinelectricalcircuits.Earlyoscilloscopes
wereonlyabletoshowtherelationshipthatexistsbetweenpotentialdifferenceandtime.Todaysoscilloscopes
continuethetraditionofmeasuringvoltagevs.timewhilealsoprovidinganextensivecollectionofsophisticateddata
analysiscapabilities,displayfeatures,andtriggeringoptions.
Tounderstandwhatelectricalrelationshipsexistinyourcircuits,youhavetoknowhowtointerpretwhatispresented
toyou.
Thisisatypicalsinglewaveformdisplayinanoscilloscope,showingthetimeonthehorizontalaxisandpotential
differenceontheverticalaxis.

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Inthelowerleftpartoftheimage,youwillsee500mV
Thatindicatestwothings:
Channel1isdisplayedontheoscilloscopeinyellow.
Forchanneloneeachgridrectanglecorrespondsto500mVintheverticaldirection.Sowehave"500millivolts
perdivision"with8verticalrectanglevisible,andthus

500 mV

8 divisions = 4 V

visibleinthevertical

1 division

direction
Inthebottomleft,youwillseeanotherboxthatsaysAFGSine100.00kHz1.0000Vpp:
AFGIndicatestheArbitraryFunctionGeneratorisactive(Iusedittocreatethiswaveform)
Sineistheshapeofthewaveform
100.000kHzisthefrequencyofthewaveform:100,000cycleseachsecond.
1.0000Vppistheamplitudeofthetransmittedwaveform.
Inthebottomcenterthereisanotherboxwith:
4.00s5.00GS/s
T0.000000s1Mpoints0.00V
4.00sisthevalueofeachrectangleinthehorizontaldirection:"4microsecondsperdivision."Thedisplay
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4.00sisthevalueofeachrectangleinthehorizontaldirection:"4microsecondsperdivision."Thedisplay
includes10rectangles,so

4.00 s

10 divisions = 40s

oftimeisvisibleacrosstheentirescreen.

1division

Theoscilloscopeisrecording5.00GS/s,i.e.,5 109 samplespersecond.

Channel1isusedtocontrolthetriggeringofthewaveform.
Triggeringoccursontherisingedgeofthechannel1waveform.
TheimageiscenteredatT0.000000sfromthetriggerpoint.
1million(1M)datapointswillbecollected.
Triggeringoccurswhenarisingsignalpassesthrough0V.

HowtoMakeBasicMeasurementswithanOscilloscope
Toillustratejusthowfartheseoscilloscopeshavecomeoverthepastfewdecades,Iwillbeginbyshowingyouhow
manydifferentwaystheoscilloscopecanbeusedtomakebasicmeasurementsoffrequency(orperiod)andpeakto
peakamplitude.

ActivatetheArbitraryFunctionGenerator
Beginbyconnectingoscilloscopechannel1totheArbitraryFunctionGenerator(AFG)BNCconnectoronthebackof
thescope.ActivatetheArbitraryFunctionGeneratorbypressingtheAFGbuttondirectlyabovetheChannel1probe
input.Pressthefirstbottommenubuttonbelow"Waveform"anduserotaryknobMultipurposeatoselect"Ramp."

TurnonChannel1
PresstheChannel1buttontoactivateit.RotatetheHorizontalScaleknobclockwisetoadjustthescaletospread
outacompletewaveovermostofthescreen.UsetheHorizontalPositionknobtoadjustitslocationonthescreenif

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youlike.

UsingtheGraticuletoMakeMeasurements
Thelinesonanoscilloscopedisplayarecalledagraticule.Therearemajorandminorgridlines(ordots)thatareused
tomeasurewaveforms.Majorgridlinesaredisplayedassolidordottedlinesthatrunthewidthorheightofthe
oscilloscopescreen.Thevoltageandtimethatcorrespondtothedivisionsformedbythemajorgridlinesareshownat
thebottomofthedisplay.Minorgridlinesaresubdivisionsbetweenmajorgridlines.Thereareusually4or5
subdivisionsbetweengridlines.Inthefollowingexample,IusedtheHorizontalPositionrotarydialtomovethe
waveformsothatthepositivepeaksofthewaveformlineupwithmajorverticalgridlines.

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Intheverticaldirectionthereare500mVperdivisionandthedistancefromlowestpointtohighestpointis4
rectanglesfor

500 mV

4 divisions from peak to peak = 2000 mVpp = 2 Vpp

1 division

Inthehorizontaldirectionthereare4.00sperdivisionandthereare5divisionsbeforethesignalbeginstorepeat,
giving

4.00 s
1 division

5 divisions
1 period

20s

1 period

UsingtheCursorstoMakeMeasurements
Digitaloscilloscopestakeallguessworkoutofusingthegraticule.Activatethecursorsbypressingthe
CursorsbuttonanduserotarydialsMultipurposeaandMultipurposebtomovethemtothepartsofthewaveform
thatyouwouldliketoinspect.Inthefollowingexample,Imovedthecursorstothepositivepeaksofthewave.

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Youwillseeintheupperrightcorneranewboxthathasinformationaboutthevaluesofpotentialdifferenceandtime
forthepointsaandb.Hereweareinterestedintheintervaloftimebetweenthetwopoints,i.e.,20.00

TodeterminethePeaktoPeakpotentialdifference,switchtohorizontalcursorsbypressingandholdingtheCursors
buttonagain,selecting"CursorsScreen"and"BarsHorizontal."ThenuseMultipurposeaandMultipurposeb
knobstoadjustthepositionofthecursorsand"Cursorslinked"toaidyouradjustment.Youcanmovebetween
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knobstoadjustthepositionofthecursorsand"Cursorslinked"toaidyouradjustment.Youcanmovebetween
horizontalandverticalmeasurementsbypressingtheSelectbutton.

Hereweareinterestedinthepotentialdifferencebetweenthetwopoints,i.e.,2.000
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Hereweareinterestedinthepotentialdifferencebetweenthetwopoints,i.e.,2.000

Belowisavideowalkthroughofthestepsyou'llneedtofollow.Eachstepusesorangehighlightstoindicatethe
appropriatebuttonorknobyou'llneedtouseontheTektronicsmodel.

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UsingtheDigitalVoltMetertoMakeMeasurements
AusefulfeaturefoundinmidrangeoscilloscopesistheDVM(DigitalVoltMeter).TheDVMtooldoeseverythingyou
mightexpectabasicmultimetertodo.EnableitbypressingtheMeasurebuttonintheWaveInspectorboxandthen
"DVM,"anduseMultipurposeatoselect(forexample)"Frequency."HereIamdisplayingthefrequency(inthe
center)alongwithfrequencystatistics(ontheright).IcouldalsodisplayAC+DCRMSvoltage,DCvoltage,orAC
RMSvoltage.

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Pressthebottommenubuttonbelow"AddMeasurement"anduseMultipurposebtoselect"Period",followedby
"OK".Thenrepeat"AddMeasurement"anduseMultipurposebtoselect"Amplitude",followedby"OK".NowPeriod
&Amplitudeareshownatthebottominalessobtrusivefashion.Youmayremovethembyselectingthebuttonbelow
"RemoveMeasurement"followedby"RemoveAllMeasurements".Youmaysimplifythedisplayatanytimeby
pressingtheMenuOffbutton.

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OntheMDO3104,uptofourmeasurementscanbedisplayedatthebottomtherearenumerousmeasurementsto
choosefrom(seehttp://www.tek.com/manualtopic/measure(http://www.tek.com/manualtopic/measure)formore
information).

MeasurementsfromtheTerminal
JustwhenyouthoughtI'drunoutofwaystomeasurethesamewaveform,herecomestheterminal.Iconnectedto
theoscilloscopewithTelnet,turnedtheDVMonremotely,setittorecordfrequency,andqueriedthevalue.To
accomplishthisfeat,youwillhavetoplugtheoscilloscopeintoaswitchorrouteronyourlocalnetworkwithan
Ethernetcable.TheoscilloscopewillobtainanIPaddressfromtheDHCPserveranddisplayitonthescreen.

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Thenuseyourfavoriteterminalprogramtoconnectwiththeoscilloscope.HereIusedPuTTY(http://www.putty.org/)
toconnecttotheIPaddressonthescreenusingtheTelnetprotocol.
Thedefaultportis4000.

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YoucanaccomplishthesameonaWindowsmachinebyopeningtherundialog("WindowsKey"+"R")andtyping
"telnet192.168.0.404000".

DVM:MODeFREQuency//SetsDVMMeasurementmodetofrequency
DVM:MEASUrement:VALue?//Queriestheoscilloscopeandreturnsfrequencymeasurement

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MeasurementsfromaWebBrowser
Whystrainyournecklookingupordownattheoscilloscopescreenwhenyoucanlookatyourcomputermonitor
instead?HereIhaveloggedintothewebinterfacetoinspectmywaveform.ItisassimpleasnavigatingtotheIP
addressofyouroscilloscopeonport81.

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UsingAdvancedMath
Themathtoolallowsallmannerofmathematicalfunctionstobeperformedonwaveformsfromsimplearithmeticto
FastFourierTransformsandeverythinginbetween.HereIamusingthefrequencymeasurementfunctionto
determinethefrequencyofmywaveform.
PresstheMathbuttontoenterthemathmenu,followedby"AdvancedMath","EditExpression".UseMultipurposea
toscrollthroughthefunctionsandSelecttochoose"Frequency(1)"andfinally"OK".

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Themathmenuissomewhatdifficulttosee.Itisredinthelowerleftcorner.Whereitdisplays100kHz,itis
indicating100kHzperdivisionintheverticaldirection.Thehorizontalredline(theresultofthemathmodule's
computation)isonedivisionabovezero,whichindicatesaconstantreadingof100kHz.The2.00sindicatesthat
thereare2.00sperdivisioninthehorizontaldirection.

AdditionalInformation
Formoreinformationtohelpyouunderstandthisparticularoscilloscope,checkouttheseresources:
TektronixOscilloscopeBasics(http://www.tek.com/document/online/primer/xyzsscopes/ch1/oscilloscopebasics)
3104Teardown(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFX47ZGOn_o)
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3104Teardown(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFX47ZGOn_o)
B&KPrecisionOscilloscopeGuide(https://bkpmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/downloads/guides/en
us/oscilloscope_guide.pdf)
MDO3000SeriesManual(http://www.tek.com/oscilloscope/mdo3000mixeddomainoscilloscope
manual/mdo3000series0)

What'sNext?
Inarticlesthatfollow,IwillusetheTektronixMDO3104oscilloscopetotroubleshootavarietyofdigitalcircuitsandto
decodedigitalsignals.

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